One thing though: I notice the slanted drive. I would be very careful to get those drives levelled - that seems to be pretty much the only requirement for placement of a drive. It can be on its side or upside-down, but it has to be level or the platters will have trouble spinning correctly. Worst case damage, best case reduced performance.

One thing though: I notice the slanted drive. I would be very careful to get those drives levelled - that seems to be pretty much the only requirement for placement of a drive. It can be on its side or upside-down, but it has to be level or the platters will have trouble spinning correctly. Worst case damage, best case reduced performance.

Yeah, i ran out of washers and screws that would properly hold that last p-clip. I might tie it up a little higher to level it up, but i thought drive orientation was a non-factor as per here:

Here is my ~4 years old solution based on Lian-Li PC-P80 + 11 x Samsung 1TB. 3.5" drives are installed into the 5.25" bays to have a lot of free space around them, and therefore reduce resistance against airflow passing the drives; airflow is created by 3x140mm front door fans (stock ones were replaced with Noctua's) working at low rpm.

With my current server setup (19 3.5-inchers and 3 2.5-inchers), I've gone a different route. I really don't like to think about what an unlucky push to my case, an earthquake, or whatever would result in, with drives suspended with elastic bands inside, bouncing around with active heads wreaking havoc on my platters. Instead, I've suspended my case. I've mounted the thing on the wall, using rubber foam as buffers to provide shock protection and give noiseless operation. Much better IMHO

Silverstone Fortress - suspending the drives to get rid of the vibration hum and resonance

What I used - cut to 12-13 inches

Rigged up - bottom fan removed to allow easy access

Standard shoe lace style double knot, but the second one is quite loose, so I can undo it if needed -had to stretch it out a bit before tying it up

The finished result - twist the bands together once before inserting a drive or 2 twists for SSD - quite secure due to the greater width of these bands, won't flop or move around.Easier to mount than the factory solution

But in the end I just plugged the SSD directly into the bracket of the first slot of the drive cage in the Silverstone FT-02 - cartridge style

My most recent PC build.Bolts in the HDD are from Dell drive rails, non-threaded section so can be put in tight and still leave section to attach to. I used zip-ties to connect the elastic to the bolts so can't come lose. 4 strands at top to support weight and 2 at bottom to hold it stable. Works great, can turn the case on side etc and HDD barely moves even though not that tightly held.

My own PC has the HDD in Scythe Quiet Drive, sitting outside the case on bit of foam, specifically WD20EARX "green" drive, very very quiet.

I had 2 problems.1) My Fractal Design Arc Midi does not have a large hdd-cage I can use.2) I can't find large O-rings.

So I came up with 2 alternatives.1) I was thinking of building my own cage to put the disks in. However, I was afraid that if I didn't do it right, the cage would become another source of vibration. So I started thinking of a real cage, with bars, in stead of walls. I happen to have an old, large piece of concrete iron. I cut a piece of it. Folded it in the right size. I tied up the ends with tie-wraps, to make sure it would stay in the correct shape when putting it under pressure of tight elastic suspension.2) Couldn't find the O-rings. My local plummer specialist had only 1 O-ring that looked good (I needed 4). The material made me think of kid's skipping rope. So I went to a toy store, and bought a skipping rope. The good thing was: the ends have a hook (to attach the ends to handles), which would make it really easy to attach the rope to the cage.

Result: HDD cage for 2 HDDs.

I also have a waterpump that could use suspension.It turned out it didn't really improve the noise. But the suspension does free the bottom of the pump from the foam. And thus there is no risk of overheating the pump anymore.

PS. Those layers of noise-insulation hardly help. I learned (after building this) that that type of foam is meant to be used to "deaden" the sound. No more reflections. But it hardly stops noise going through it. It stops only 20-30% of the noise. So I plan to replace it with cotton-based insulation foam. (See here an example.) That stuff is supposed to work much better. Not easily available though, it seems.

I had 2 problems.1) My Fractal Design Arc Midi does not have a large hdd-cage I can use.2) I can't find large O-rings.

So I came up with 2 alternatives.1) I was thinking of building my own cage to put the disks in. However, I was afraid that if I didn't do it right, the cage would become another source of vibration. So I started thinking of a real cage, with bars, in stead of walls. I happen to have an old, large piece of concrete iron. I cut a piece of it. Folded it in the right size. I tied up the ends with tie-wraps, to make sure it would stay in the correct shape when putting it under pressure of tight elastic suspension.2) Couldn't find the O-rings. My local plummer specialist had only 1 O-ring that looked good (I needed 4). The material made me think of kid's skipping rope. So I went to a toy store, and bought a skipping rope. The good thing was: the ends have a hook (to attach the ends to handles), which would make it really easy to attach the rope to the cage.

Result: HDD cage for 2 HDDs.

I also have a waterpump that could use suspension.It turned out it didn't really improve the noise. But the suspension does free the bottom of the pump from the foam. And thus there is no risk of overheating the pump anymore.

PS. Those layers of noise-insulation hardly help. I learned (after building this) that that type of foam is meant to be used to "deaden" the sound. No more reflections. But it hardly stops noise going through it. It stops only 20-30% of the noise. So I plan to replace it with cotton-based insulation foam. (See here an example.) That stuff is supposed to work much better. Not easily available though, it seems.

Your choice of suspension material isn't quite right: It really needs to be elastic, stretchy. Thin bungie cords would be a way better choice. The trick is not to tighten the suspension too much or let it be too slack (which risks the HDD falling out).

As for the "blue fill" recycled blue-jeans cotton batting, it is a fiberglass insulation alternative -- I used 8"x2 thick layers in my anechoic chamber. See -- http://www.silentpcreview.com/article876-page9.html However, you're right that it too, does not really block noise, only absorbs it as it passes through, and the effectiveness gets much worse with decreasing frequency (below ~200Hz, its absorption falls dramatically). Only one thing will block the noise -- walls of high mass/density.

Chances are, with a proper suspension of decently quiet HDDs, you will not need any acoustic foam to make them inaudible -- assuming a decent case. To contain the pump noise, I'd use something like a thick wall aluminum box to completely house it (with rubber gasket holes for the hoses & wiring), and float the pump in the box in a layer foam that will keep it from making direct contact with the metal box. The density of the foam should be chosen so it can stop mechanical vibration from getting into the box. Most foam also transfers some heat if it is not too thick/dense. Floating the whole encased pump assembly with elastic suspension will maximize the noise reduction.

Your choice of suspension material isn't quite right: It really needs to be elastic, stretchy. Thin bungie cords would be a way better choice. The trick is not to tighten the suspension too much or let it be too slack (which risks the HDD falling out).

ive had good luck in the past with strips of old bicyle inner tube hung (lightly stretched) vertically, with a couple over sized washers to keep screws from torquing the rubber too much.

Code:

| || ||[==]|| ||[==]|| || |

"|" is rubber"[==]" is hdd

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Your choice of suspension material isn't quite right: It really needs to be elastic, stretchy. Thin bungie cords would be a way better choice. The trick is not to tighten the suspension too much or let it be too slack (which risks the HDD falling out).

The plastic cord that I use it quite elastic. Maybe not as much as bungie cord, but I would think elastic enough. And yes, I did experiment a bit how tight I should tie it. I made it quite lose. But I'll see if I can find bungie cord, and see if that improves things. As I said, seeking noises are completely gone. I copied a hundred gigabyte from one disk to another (and then deleting it), just because I enjoyed not hearing my disks rattle at all.

Quote:

As for the "blue fill" recycled blue-jeans cotton batting, it is a fiberglass insulation alternative -- I used 8"x2 thick layers in my anechoic chamber. See -- http://www.silentpcreview.com/article876-page9.html However, you're right that it too, does not really block noise, only absorbs it as it passes through, and the effectiveness gets much worse with decreasing frequency (below ~200Hz, its absorption falls dramatically).

Thanks for the link. I had missed that article. Impressive work.I learned that the foam does not do a lot of stopping noise going through. But now you are saying that also the cotton-based insulation doesn't work well ? I read that "ridig fiberglass plates" would be much better than the foam. And that cotton-based would be even better. But if it still block less than half the noise, maybe I shouldn't bother ?

Quote:

Only one thing will block the noise -- walls of high mass/density.

One of my friends suggested that I should buy 2 boxes. Of slightly different size, and the biggest should fit in my cupboard. Then fill the space between them with sand. I'm not sure I like that idea. 1) it has the potential to become filthy, 2) getting my tubes/wires through the 2 boxes is not optimal. 3) I need to mess with a lid or door, where the hinges might become sound-bridges. 4) Will sand stop vibration-noise, or do I still need to suspend my pump ? A lot of work, for something that might not be effective.

Quote:

Chances are, with a proper suspension of decently quiet HDDs, you will not need any acoustic foam to make them inaudible -- assuming a decent case.

I have a Fractal Design Arc Midi. It has not been designed to be quiet. (I think the R3 and R4 are for that). But with openings for fans, there is always room for noise to escape. I can't understand how one can claim a case is silent, when there are fans in it ? Even when the fans themselves don't make noise, but some component inside.

I might buy bitumen plates for noise dampening. And I have some of that foam still that I could put on top of the bitumen. That could maybe absorp some of the HDD spinning noise.

Quote:

To contain the pump noise, I'd use something like a thick wall aluminum box to completely house it (with rubber gasket holes for the hoses & wiring), and float the pump in the box in a layer foam that will keep it from making direct contact with the metal box. The density of the foam should be chosen so it can stop mechanical vibration from getting into the box. Most foam also transfers some heat if it is not too thick/dense. Floating the whole encased pump assembly with elastic suspension will maximize the noise reduction.

Would foam be better than sand ? I guess 2 boxes with sand will be heavier, and are harder to hang in suspension.

My new SSD arrived this morning. Let's see if I can keep my HDDs spun down.And hopefully my new fan controller will arrive tomorrow, so I can undervolt my pump.If those things don't work, I will look at more drastic actions.

One other trick might be to buy a NAS, and put the 2 HDDs in there. The downside is, I see customer reviews claiming that their NASs do 60-25 MByte/sec. Old fashioned HDDs do 250-300 MBps, GbE is 125 MBps. So 25 MBps seems pretty slow. Not a problem when watching movies on my TV. But manipulating files and games around could take some time. (Copying 10GB takes 7 minutes. Painful when you were used to local storage).

If you fill cavities with sand, it becomes a solid heavy mass. Yes, it has internal damping qualities, but it would not be as mechanically isolating for the low frequency vibration of the pump. I'd never use it -- way too messy.

Ive tried to explain this in a few other threads, but don't think it made that much sense without pictures.

It took far longer to take and post these pics, than it did to isolate, and practically silence these old PATA drives with just some leftover packing foam and my trusty swiss-army knife. (OK, and maybe a cold beer...)

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Last edited by xan_user on Thu Apr 09, 2015 10:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Here's my HDD suspension in a Silverstone PS07 case. The 5.25" bay covers are normally installed, I removed them to show the fan installation. These 2.5" Samsung M9T drives are much quieter than my previous 3.5" Seagate barracuda's. Plus they allowed more space for airflow, allowed sealing off the 5.25" bay area and allowed for installing a fan.

I have this WD green 2Tb, when I mount the drive directly to the case the noise is really annoying so, This what I have done Its very quiet now, you can hear it only when the drive is doing intensive work and the sound is very low

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